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Source Description
George Romney drew prolifically and his vivid spontaneity is most apparent in hundreds of bold studies rendered in a highly personalized style. This preparatory drawing was for an unrealized history painting intended to decorate the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. The simplified figure of the mourning Virgin was drawn with flowing lines and heavy ribbons of wash. Romney gave form to the mournful tone of his subject with descending lines that pool at the bottom of the composition. The Virgin’s oversized, pleading hands further emphasize the pathos of his subject.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
145168
label
Mater Dolorosa (Mourning Mother)
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
145168
contentType
drawing
title
Mater Dolorosa (Mourning Mother)
description
George Romney drew prolifically and his vivid spontaneity is most apparent in hundreds of bold studies rendered in a highly personalized style. This preparatory drawing was for an unrealized history painting intended to decorate the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. The simplified figure of the mourning Virgin was drawn with flowing lines and heavy ribbons of wash. Romney gave form to the mournful tone of his subject with descending lines that pool at the bottom of the composition. The Virgin’s oversized, pleading hands further emphasize the pathos of his subject.
date
1776
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79923132
creators
1343
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 50.1 x 29.3 cm (19 3/4 x 11 9/16 in.)
cul
England, 18th century
accession
1970.338
Source extras
tec
brown ink, pen and wash, with graphite underdrawing
tombstone
Mater Dolorosa (Mourning Mother), 1776. George Romney (British, 1734–1802). Brown ink, pen and wash, with graphite underdrawing; sheet: 50.1 x 29.3 cm (19 3/4 x 11 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1970.338
supportMaterials
description
moderately textured, thick beige laid paper
collection
DR - British
inscriptions
inscription
inscribed, in brown ink, at upper center: No. 118; stamped, on verso, stamp of Alfred A. de Pass [L. 108a]
didYouKnow
The painting to which this drawing relates was never realized because an Old Master Italian canvas was donated and took its place in the chapel for which it was intended.
citations
citation
"Recent Accessions of American and Canadian Museums, October-December 1970." <em>Art Quarterly</em> 34, no. 2 (Summer 1971).
page_number
Mentioned: p. 253
citation
Dixon, Yvonne Romney. <em>"Designs from Fancy": George Romney's Shakespearean Drawings</em>. Washington, DC: Folger Shakespeare Library, 1998.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 219
citation
Lemonedes, Heather. <em>British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. </em>Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
page_number
Mentioned: pp. 34-35, 148, no. 7; Reproduced: p. 35
citation
Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd. Night Thoughts : Romantic Drawings from the Brandt Collection. London: Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd., 2023.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 35
creditline
Dudley P. Allen Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:27:21.855000
sourceId
145168
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - British
med
brown ink, pen and wash, with graphite underdrawing
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
4e725843af7583cb